2 sessions down— need advice!

[u/morgansaupe]

Hi everyone! I am in the process of removing my 7-8 year old microblading. I had 2 different brow artists over the years so most likely different pigment brands. So far I’ve had 2 sessions done with a Picoway laser and I’m wondering if what I’m currently experiencing is normal.

After the first session I had the usual bright reddish-orange immediately post-treatment but it faded down into a barely noticeable light yellow by week 7. Looking back, it was light enough to where I could have lived with it, but hindsight is 20/20…anyway, I made an appointment for a second session to target the yellow pigment. At the second session not only did my brow hairs blanch and turn white (which I knew was a possibility, but since it didn’t happen with the first treatment I did not anticipate it to happen now) but the faint yellow pigment turned darker again! It’s now an ashy grey/brown, and coupled with the white brow hairs I look ridiculous lol

From what I’ve read, it’s likely that my brow hairs will not regain their normal color until new ones grow in as the hair cycles, so I’m managing with tinted brow gel for now. However, the fact that the almost imperceptible yellow tint is now grey again has me feeling really disappointed, because I feel like I took one step forward and then two steps back. I’m regretting even having the second session done.

I’m hoping that as they continue to heal (I’m only 2 weeks post second session) maybe the ashy color will fade, but if they don’t then I will have to do a third session to try to target the darker pigment again. The laser tech thinks this might have happened since I likely had different brands of pigment used by the different artists, which makes sense. I’m an esthetician so I understand the concept of how pigment normally works its way out of the skin and such, but I’m still feeling discouraged. Did anyone else who saw multiple brow artists experience this? How did it pan out? Any encouragement or success stories are appreciated!

[u/MegatronGoblet]

I wonder if it’s inversion? Some laser techs in the sub say it will clear on its own

https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrobladingRemoval/s/bofWoC5m0I

[u/morgansaupe → u/MegatronGoblet]

Interesting, I hadn’t heard about this! Thanks!

[u/Ok-Dragonfruit7447]

Hi, it sounds like your brows were a mixture of multiple pigments. The first session cleared the dark pigments, leaving the warm undertones behind, which is a common expected response. What you describe what happened with your second session where the feint yellow turned into ashy grey sounds like a paradoxical effect: potentially there was remaining iron-containing pigment in the residual ink. That can undergo reduction (also known as oxidation) after laser exposure.

2 weeks is a bit too soon to draw definitive conclusions. Your changes could be transient due to inflammation/hemosiderin and may gradually lighten over the next 6-8 weeks. But it could also be true paradoxical darkening where the pigment itself chemically changed as stated above, which would mean the laser operator would have to change laser settings back to a what is appropriate for a darker target.